Towards the future
by Stanjour
Summary: [Post-season 1, after 'Perfect World'] Almost three months has passed since Makishima's case has been closed. Ginoza Nobuchika is getting used to his mechanical arm, and a 'certain' Inspector still tries to improve herself challenging her limits.


**Hello, guys! Happy New Year! :D I want to thank you for the likes and the favs to my previous fanfiction,  
>so I decided to write this other one-shot. Hope you will like this, too! Reviews are always welcomed, as they help me to improve my English :D<strong>

**(Post-season 1, 'Perfect World'. Slightly Ginoza x Akane.)**

* * *

><p><strong>Towards the future<strong>

The sky was clear blue that afternoon and the windows of the training centre located into the MWPSB's building were shining brightly because of the sun. The sunlight almost made him blind when he looked outside for a moment, watching at the skyscrapers and their images reflected on the sea. Nobuchika was standing near the swimming pool. He was off duty, so he decided to do some work out. He stretched his left arm trying to figure out how to adapt to _that_ thing: the prosthesis still felt awkward, and the new Enforcer had tried his best to understand how to not appear weird in the meanwhile, resorting to take at least a dip in the pool once in a while to make his body get used to its new arm. It was as if everyone _knew_ and looked at _it _even when it was covered by the coat - similar to that of his father – and he didn't like it. Nobuchika's eyebrows slowly narrowed at the thought. _Maybe I should change the coat... It does remember my father and his mechanical arm, after all. _It almost felt normal for that thing to attract people's gazes at that point. _Yes, it must be its fault._ He mentally cursed himself for never thinking about that, then the former Inspector sighed in relief, resorting to change his clothing the following day.

"It seems like someone's finally at ease. You were really stiff, Ginoza-san."

The cheerful and high voice reached his ears at the instant, making Nobuchika turn around to see who had spoken. Truth to be told, he already knew who it was: his former apprentice stepped forward, in fact. Her fragile frame was hidden by the one-piece swim suit, female version of his own swimming trunks, both as black as their usual dresses. Akane's even had the MWPSB symbol on the left of her chest – more developed than everyone imagined, maybe. He chuckled a little letting his lips curve up in the process while looking at her through his dark hair.

"Good afternoon, Inspector... Were you watching me, perhaps?" He teased her with that same smile, and Akane giggled, walking and stopping right in front of him. She had cut her hair two months ago, but it was already growing, so she tried to tame it with a slightly annoyed face using a headband.

"Maybe, yes..." she answered then satisfied and shrugging with a clear smile, not bothered by his tone. Her gaze changed into a worried one right away, anyway. She was peeking at his replaced arm, and Nobuchika could almost feel her sadness.

"Does it hurt...?" She asked softly.

The former Inspector blinked, taken aback. He followed her eyes and watched at his own left arm. He sighed.

"Not too much. I'm getting used to it..." He avoided to say he didn't know how to deal with it, yet. He didn't want to make her worry over it. His gaze shifted to her attire. "Finally decided to learn how to swim, mh?"

He was obviously making fun of her: he knew from her CV that she wasn't able to swim and Nobuchika smirked when Akane pouted at him as a child.

"I'd like to learn how to keep afloat, at least..." she admitted reluctantly. "I'm not good with water. I feel like drowning most of the time".

"I see..." he said moving from the spot he was standing up to the edge of swimming pool, ready to climb down the ladder. He could feel the cold metal under the palm of his right hand while climbing down, and he was almost at the end of it when he looked back at her and met Akane's big brown eyes.

They remained silent and still for a long time, staring at each other. Akane seemed as she was expecting something from the Enforcer, so Nobuchika frowned and stood up on the last rung, holding tight the metallic ladder. He was perplexed.

"What?" he asked finally. He straightened his back.

Akane's gaze lightened up at the question, and Nobuchika felt a cold shiver run through his spine. _No good... _he thought. She smiled widely and moved her hands behind her back, then the Inspector assumed an innocent look – as a child, again – and relaxed.

"Ginoza-san, you are good at swimming, am I right?" Nobuchika's right eyebrow lifted, then he slowly nodded. She continued. "... Maybe... If you want to, obviously... Would you like to teach me, please?" She finished it with a bright, hopeful smile on her lips.

Seconds passed, Nobuchika relaxed a little and replied with a dull voice. "You could take a course, Inspector", and then lowered his gaze on the water surface, letting himself be submerged by it. It wasn't his duty to teach her something like that, after all. Taking classes would have been better for her, too.

He sighed with contentment, feeling calm and refreshed. His arm hurt a little, but he could overcome it for now. He closed his eyes and then-... He met the mortified expression on his Inspector face once he reopened his eyes. She was curved on herself near the pool's edge. Her arms were crossed on the bended knees and she wasn't looking at him, but Nobuchika's lips parted in any case to let him sigh.

"Is this how you convinced Kougami in the past...?" he muttered in a very low voice, annoyed by his little resistance to her depressed look.

Akane batted her eyelids and focused on him again, surprised. "What? You said something, Ginoza-san...?" Her tone was almost hopeful as she leaned over, making him frown and vent at her his discontent.

"I said you shall be prepared. I'm a strict teacher, Tsunemori!" he said with an harsh and cold tone, accepting the coaching in a subtly manner. _Really, I lack endurance towards her...,_ he scolded himself.

His reaction wasn't enough to make her withdraw, anyway. The twenty-years-old woman's expression regained its usual vitality, and Akane nodded enthusiastically. She stood up. "Yes, sir!"

Nobuchika shrugged. "Isn't it time to accept the fact that I'm your subordinate now, Inspector?" he asked then, sighing out loud this time and moving from the ladder to the side, to make her take a dip in the water without any hindrance. She blushed at his statement, then groaned and muttered something like 'But you are still my former senior', to which the Enforcer decided to not reply. He glared at her for an instant, still. His eyebrows raised again when he noticed the concerned look on his Inspector face once she started to climb the ladder and the water submerged her left knee.

"Water doesn't bite, you know?" he teased her to make her feel relaxed, and Akane briefly threw a smile at him.

"I know... I'm just n-nervous..." she faltered and her body trembled for a moment.

He decided to use his last 'weapon' to encourage her a little, then. He scoffed. "Kougami wouldn't approve, you know? Where is _his_ tough detective, now?" he smirked, and with the corner of her eye Akane looked at him, reddening very heavily.

"W-WHAT?!" She stumbled again with a high-pitched cry and hurried to turn her body towards him. Nobuchika blinked and extended an arm in her direction as fast as possible. "Wait, watch out Tsunemori, it's dangerous!" he warned her, but he didn't make in time. Akane lost the grip and slipped, falling in the water with a huge noise.

Nobuchika ignored his shoulder – that was screaming from pain for a while now – and held his breath. He pulled his head under water and opened his eyes. They started burning because of the chlorine but he immediately found the little figure of Akane in front of him. She was agitated, throwing kicks and punches in the water, but she wouldn't know that doing so wasn't a good idea. She could drown, seriously. Nobuchika had a powerful stroke and advanced to grab her firmly from her waist using his right arm, then he pulled her head up first, following after her. Once emerged, the Enforcer swam to the ladder and made Akane grab it, sighing in relief. His left arm was throbbing.

"You know how to scare people to death, Tsunemori... Quite a terrible first attempt." he laughed with a hoarse voice after taking a deep breath.

His chest was raising and falling at the rhythm of his heartbeat. He watched her from little distance, then. He could feel her body cold because of the fear. Akane was trying to regain control over her heavy breath, too. She was pale, her cheeks bright red, but she managed to turn her head to meet his gaze and smile a little embarrassed, using a shaking hand to move her fringe back since she had lost her headband in the water. Nobuchika frowned and turned around to find the band floating next to him. He grabbed the piece of cloth and returned it to her, silently. She took it bowing her head a little.

"T-thank you... I'm really sorry Ginoza-san, I shouldn't have reacted like that..." she laughed at herself obviously ashamed and lowering her gaze.

_As if I don't know why you reacted like that. Only hearing Kougami's name affect you this much..._ he thought with a much cold look on his face, keeping silent. He shook his head and peeked a look at her carefully, waiting for Akane to pull herself together: she was really petite for her age, but the Enforcer noticed with a little smile – while relaxing – that she had already changed a lot from the first time he met her. She was more confident at her workplace, more rational. Her clear mind seemed to be reflected on the physical appearance, as her face became less and less childlike since Makishima Shougo's death and Kougami's disappearance. Nobuchika sighed slowly and averted his gaze abruptly to look around the pool. There were only the two of them for a while now.

"Sorry... I'm okay now, Ginoza-_sensei_."

The Enforcer snapped out of his thoughts. He let them roam free and he detached himself from reality. Luckily, Akane didn't seem to notice it: when the former Inspector met her gaze she was smiling with a smug expression because of the 'sensei' she added that time – or maybe because she kept calling at him without him actually noticing, so she resorted to call him like that. Anyway, it was as if time had stopped for a while. He nodded then, keeping a straight face.

"Good, but don't call me like that. Ever," He stared at her remembering how Sasayama used to call him like that and Akane responded with an apologetic gaze. In the past that nickname was used as an insult towards him by the dead Enforcer but Akane wouldn't know it. "Are you sure you want to keep going with the lesson...?" he asked her with a calm tone again, raising an eyebrow.

Akane nodded vigorously. "Sure. I must learn to float today, at least!" she laughed.

"As expected from you... _tough detective._" He lightly curved his lips and smirked. He was curious to see if she could keep calm at that round. She managed, even if he gained a glare and a pouting look as a reply from her.

He let out a soft laugh. "Sorry, sorry..." he answered shocking his head. He felt his wet black hair hit his neck, as it wasn't needed to wear a swim cap thanks to the continuous change of water of the pool. He run a hand through it to pull the hair back.

"So... There are two easy methods to stay afloat, Tsunemori. You can do it standing still, moving only your arms and legs, or rather resting on you back. You can start from the latter since it's the easiest, okay?," he stated, then noticed how she was staring at him and his body, grabbing tight the pole of ladder. He coughed to gain her attention, a little embarrassed, and Akane raised her head in a rush, blushing. "What is it?" he asked.

"Mhmh, sorry. I was wondering... You're floating standing still, your arms are moving in slow circles under water and your feet keep at kicking back and forth in the water..." she said mumbling. Nobuchika laughed lightly, shacking his head again while Akane blinked.

"Impressive. Yeah, you do this to float standing in the same spot. Seems like I need to teach you only how to stay on your back, then". He chuckled amused and Akane's cheeks flushed. She lowered her gaze again.

"Uhm, sorry...?" She was unsure.

"Why?," he scoffed. "With this you will be able to float within the day. And I will not have to worry about you drowning by yourself again next time..." he teased her, laughing again at her embarrassed look and childlike pouting.

"Evil..." she whined, making him laugh harder.

After a couple of hours they were standing off the edge of the pool. The sun was setting and the city lights had already started to glow. Akane was smiling, sitting on the border and moving her feet on the surface of the water, happily mumbling a song by herself – as a child, in fact. Nobuchika watched her for a while from two meters behind her back, stroking his own hair with a white towel before interrupting her. He shook his head, his gaze on her bended petite back and her pale skin exposed by the swim suit.

"You did good today, Inspector." he said in a calm voice, stroking his hair harder for a moment. He saw her turning around, looking at him with curiosity and satisfaction. He chuckled inwardly and left aside the piece of cloth, finally.

"Mhm, or maybe I shouldn't be so impressed. You can do much better than this, Tsunemori... Isn't it?" He teased her with a broad smile and watched as she stood up and walked towards him with a straight back and a confident look on her face, putting her hands on her waist. She stopped right in front of him, looking from below at his face.

"Maybe, but it's good to hear something like this from Ginoza-san... Thank you for your help." she answered politely with a soft smile, bowing to show her respect for her former senior and colleague.

He snorted. "As I said, it saves me the effort to keep you from drowning every time from now." he answered making her flustered.

She managed to recover faster this time. Her flush subsided. She put up a soft and kind smile, taking him by surprise. "Thanks to you I can even take a couple of stroke and swim for a short distance, now," she added in a sweet tone. "I didn't think you would be so good at teaching Ginoza-_sensei_, you know?".

It took him a while before realizing that she actually made fun of him, even adding a smirk at the end. He was speechless.

"See you again tomorrow then, Ginoza-san! I'm looking forward to our next lesson. Good evening..."

Akane took advantage of his state to catch her towel and say good-bye in the same sweet voice, bowing formally for the second time and leaving him behind. As the door leading to the woman's dressing room shut, Nobuchika's lips trembled and he burst out laughing, bringing his left hand onto his mouth to suppress his laughter.

At last, the prosthesis didn't feel that awkward anymore now.


End file.
